What is CTR (Click-Through Rate)?

CTR definition: click-through rate is the percentage of people who see your app in store surfaces (search/browse) and tap into your product page. If you’re asking what is CTR, it’s the bridge between visibility and conversion, and it shows whether your title, icon, and first screenshots earn the click.

How it works

An impression happens when your app appears in search or browse. The micro-moment that follows is all about “signal fit”: the query meets your title/subtitle, the icon anchors recognition, the first two screenshots tell a clear story, and social proof (rating count, stars) lowers risk.

When that story lands, users tap—creating a product page view.

On Google Play, this is reflected in store listing visitors; Play Console defines the related conversion metrics and lets you slice by country, source, and listing variant to see where your CTR is breaking or compounding.

Why it’s important (and what is a good CTR?)

There isn’t a single number that fits every category. On the paid side, a useful proxy is Apple Search Ads tap-through rate (TTR): SplitMetrics reports ~9.9–11.4% average TTR across 2023–2024, with big swings by category (e.g., Entertainment ~15–30%).

If your organic search CTR trails your category’s paid TTR materially, creatives or keyword intent likely need work.

For context on the next step of the funnel (post-click), AppTweak found average App Store conversion rate from product page to install ~25% in the US (H1’24) and Google Play ~27.3%, which helps you sanity-check whether low installs stem from weak CTR or weak on-page conversion.

Pair CTR with these CVR benchmarks to locate the true leak.

Example

A finance app targets “budget planner” but leads with an abstract icon and lifestyle screenshots. Impressions are healthy; taps aren’t.

After swapping the icon to a recognizable ledger motif, front-loading screenshots with “Auto-categorize spend” + “Bank-level security,” and aligning subtitle keywords to the query, search-surface taps rise toward category-median TTR while product-page CVR holds steady.

The net effect: more installs without extra spend, classic ASO compounding verified in Play Console acquisition reports and your Apple Ads search results metrics.

Notes for AppFollow readers: use CTR trends alongside review sentiment to catch creative-message mismatches (“confusing,” “not what I expected”). Then validate lift by source and locale in Play Console benchmarks, aiming to outperform your peer set rather than a generic target.